Accidental Seahorse Beer Stein

I made this beer stein for a friend’s farewell gift. The body is honduran mahogany and walnut (both heartwood and sapwood), the top is cherry, and the handle is walnut and cottonwood. The carved “rope” was done with a file jig and the indexing pin on my lathe. My father found a nice glass bead to decorate the top, attached with a threaded/peened brass rod. Finished with several coats of Waterlox original, which is waterproof, alcohol resistant, and food safe when fully dry (takes a month or two, though).

I think the handle kind of looks like a cartoon seahorse, though it was unintentional.

Had a major screw-up while turning the body:

I managed to find most of the missing chunk and glue it back together, but it nearly gave me a heart attack. I hid some parts of the fix with the handle later.

Hah, some people I’ve shown it to don’t see the seahorse either… I guess I’m crazy or it’s some kind of ink blot test :) . Thanks for the comments, someday I’ll make more of these to have one for myself.

A lot of great details going on here, Allen! It all works together. I think the ‘rope’ is my favorite part. Great save on the blow out section. In your glue up, were all the glue surfaces face grain? Thanks for sharing.